SEEN FROM BRUSSELS
Sommet de la dernière chance
With serious pressure on the Eurozone
through speculative attacks by the financial markets, the last weeks contained turbulent episodes around the
Euro. Moreover, the European Union
(EU) found itself in midst of crucial negotiations around its next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF)
from 2014 to 2020 therewith framing
the budgets for and adoption of future
programmes like Horizon 2020 and
Erasmus for All. Overall, there seems to
be a trend towards also investing in
growth and jobs.
The European Commission (EC) on 30
May has published the communication
‘Action for stability, growth and jobs’
containing a package of countryspecific recommendations for budgetary measures and economic reforms
to enhance financial stability and a vision for boosting growth and creating employment: member states are
on the whole taking the necessary action
to restore financial sustainability, but in
several cases consolidation should be
more growth-friendly. Barroso’s call
from 13 June for an inter-institutional
agreement on growth, including a
stronger Economic and Monetary Union
(EMU) along with a banking union, was
strongly supported at a meeting between François Hollande and Mario Monti
on 18 June. This new Franco-Italian
axis of ‘imagination and innovation’
is directed against the German standpoint of budgetary rigour and opposition to ‘quick fixes’ such as Eurobonds or
a common European bank guarantee
fund. The European Council on 28 and
29 June – le sommet de la dernière
chance – confirmed the trend towards
also investing in jobs and growth as
Germany gave in to the refusal of Italy

and Spain to accept the ‘Compact for
Growth and Jobs’ of €120 billion without
relief on the Excessive Dept Procedure:
countries undertaking the necessary
reforms may from now on ask for financial support from the EU under the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) only.
The meeting of the General Affairs
Council on 29 May 2012 revealed deep
divisions on the MFF. While a group of
seven net-paying countries wanted a
smaller budget than the EC had proposed, the ‘friends of cohesion’ of 15
countries defended the EC with “cohesion policy as a major tool for investment, growth and jobs”. While many
states called for an abolition of rebates
(Spain,
Hungary,
Romania,
Greece, Czech Republic, Slovenia and
Bulgaria), the few profiting from them
defended them. Also the system of own
revenues for the EU and the ways to
generate them was highly disputed. The
European Parliament (EP) is strongly
opposed against any cuts of the proposed budget and clearly envisages own
resources through a European tax in for
example carbon emissions, financial
transactions and/or mobile telephones.
While the Danish presidency proposed to
get GMES and ITER back into MFF,
Portugal and Bulgaria supported the EC
in keeping GMES and ITER outside MFF.
Projects bonds allowing a number of
predefined infrastructure projects total
limited to €230 million, a considerable
increase of the European Investment
Bank (EIB) capital and the use of unspent part of community funds were
achieved by the end of May however.
The objective is still to reach an agreement on the MFF before the end of this
year.

03 July 2012 • SwissCore

2

Le sommet de la dernière chance did
provide an adoption of a ‘Compact for
Growth and Jobs’ and the EU financial
support to countries, but it delayed the
crucial decisions on the further integration towards a fiscal and a
banking union until December and no
substantial progress was made on
the adoption of the MFF.

The serious disagreements between the
EU institutions on how to combat the
financial crisis, as well as on the MFF
thus stay as a black cloud above the
budgets allocated to Horizon 2020 and
Erasmus for All with the threat of the EP
to delay the adoption of the MFF as the
worst case scenario.

RESEARCH
Horizon 2020 at heart of Cypriot presidency
For the first time in its history, Cyprus
will hold the presidency of the Council of
the European Union (Council) from 1
July to 31 December 2012. Of the four
overarching priorities of the presidency,
two clearly set their focus on research
and innovation: ‘A more efficient and
sustainable Europe’ and ‘A better performing and growth-based economy in
Europe’. Considering the priorities from
a research point of view, the negotiations on the adoption of Horizon 2020
will remain central to the Cypriot presidency. While the Council has recently
reached a partial general approach on
the regulation establishing Horizon
2020, the Rules for Participation and
Dissemination (RfP) and the Specific
Programme Implementing Horizon
2020 (SP) still need to be discussed.
The integration of the European Institute
of Technology (EIT) into Horizon 2020 is
another key issue that will be debated.
On the RfP, the presidency aims at
reaching an agreement during the Competitiveness Council scheduled for 10
October. A strong debate is expected
between the member states, as the
proposal of the European Commission
(EC) came under fire from the European
Parliament (EP) on issues such as the
flat rate for the recovery of indirect
costs or the single reimbursement rates
for all participants and all activities. The
Cypriot presidency has announced as
well its ambition to reach a partial
general approach on the Specific
Programme (SP), the third legislative
document of Horizon 2020. The agreement should fall during the last Competitiveness Council meeting on 11 December. Decisions on the total financial
envelope and the exact budgetary al-

locations for Horizon 2020 are however directly linked to the adoption
of
the
Multi-annual
Financial
Framework (MFF), which is rather
unclear at this moment (see page 3).
On the EIT, the Cypriot presidency publically underlined its importance for
achieving Europe’s goals in research,
innovation and growth. The EIT has become a major element of Horizon 2020:
the EC proposed a tenfold budget increase and it will be fully integrated into
Horizon 2020. A strong debate on the
EIT legislative proposals is currently under way in the EP. The presidency has
committed itself to reaching an agreement in the Council in December, after
an important conference in Larnaca from
8 to 9 November.
Additionally, the EC has foreseen the
release of two important communications that will highlight its vision for a)
the completion of the European Research Area (ERA) and b) its International Cooperation (INCO) in Science
and Technology (S&T). The Cypriot
presidency will lead discussions between
member states and present Council conclusions on the ERA framework in December. Emphasis will be set on
open access, human resources and
cross-border cooperation. The Council conclusions on the INCO S&T communication should only fall under Irish
presidency in spring 2013.
In conclusion, Horizon 2020 will be at
the heart of the Cypriot presidency
because of the many Horizon 2020related dossiers that need a formal
agreement at the Council.

Website of the Cypriot presidency

03 July 2012 • SwissCore

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RESEARCH

Focus: Will COST find its way into Horizon 2020?
Founded in 1971, the European Cooperation in Science in Technology framework (COST) brings together researchers from 35 countries across Europe,
plus Israel as ‘cooperating state’. COST
was set-up to provide nationallyfunded researchers with instruments for cooperation, networking
and dissemination of scientific results. COST is often seen as a precursor
for the European Research Area (ERA),
because of its early foundation date its
ability to link national research funding
organisations. Due to its success, COST
received €240 million from the Seventh
Framework Programme for Research and
Technological Development (FP7), even
though it is an intergovernmental organisation. For the next framework programme (Horizon 2020), COST wishes
its budget to be increased to €560
million from 2014 to 2020. This
would allow the organisation to support
1’190 new actions across the next seven
years.
Recent developments on the negotiations on Horizon 2020 have offered support to COST. During the Competitiveness Council on 31 May 2012, a partial
general approach was reached on the
regulation establishing Horizon 2020.
The Council emphasises the need of
widening participation across Europe
and the building up of synergies and
complementarities with other funding
programmes. In that sense, COST has
received special attention. It was
explicitly mentioned in an article on

cross-cutting
issues
aiming
at
strengthening ‘international networks for excellent researchers and
innovators’. The rationale behind this
decision builds on the success of COST
as predecessor of the ERA and on the
will of the member states to use
COST to link researchers from scientifically weak regions to leading
ones without compromising on the ‘excellence’ intention of the framework
programmes. The direct uptake of COST
in Horizon 2020 by the Council is however only a first step. The final adoption
of the text is conditioned by the negotiations with the European Parliament and
the European Commission.
In a document released on 21 June
2012, COST’s executive body stressed
the organisation’s commitment to
widen pan-European participation,
to encourage capacity building and
to increase cooperation with neighbouring countries. These conclusions
are in line with the Council’s recommendations and highlight a broadly shared
common vision for Horizon 2020. COST
has communicated as well its will to
address societal challenges and foster scientific excellence, which clearly
fits into Horizon 2020 objectives. The
organisation further insists on the efficiency and simplicity of its networking
instruments that allow the diffusion of
knowledge and facilitate the linking of
‘pockets of excellence’ throughout
Europe.

COST position paper

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RESEARCH

> Publications
Galileo to be extended from 2014 to 2020
During a Transport, Telecommunications and En-

Report on impact of science
On 4 June 2012, the Science and Technology Op-

also discusses the first effects of the ‘MEP-

tions Assessment Group (STOA) of the European

Scientists Pairing Scheme’ that was introduced last

Parliament (EP) has released its 2011 annual re-

year with the aim of bringing more understanding

port. STOA is mandated by the EP to carry out

to Members of the European Parliament (MEP) on

studies on the impact of science and technology on

the scientific research process and the benefits of

European policy and evaluate future policy options

scientific

from a technological point of view. In this report,

scheme also provided scientists with a deeper

STOA presents the outcomes of the actions organ-

knowledge on the policy-making process and the

ised throughout the year. The actions focused

work carried out at the EP. Finally, the document

mainly on societal challenges such as the sustain-

highlights the collaboration of STOA with the Joint

able society, e-Democracy and e-Participation,

Research Centre (JRC) and other options assess-

urban transport and modern energy. The report

ment groups.

knowledge.

Reciprocally,

the

pairing

STOA 2011 annual report (pdf)

03 July 2012 • SwissCore

6

INNOVATION
Innovation must lead Europe out of crisis
It has been said many times: Europe
needs innovation to overcome the financial crisis and the social crisis resulting
from it. But how can innovation be fostered, supported or simply brought
about? In a high-level conference titled
‘Mission Growth’ on 29 May 2012 in
Brussels, José Manuel Barroso and several of his colleagues presented their
vision of a ‘new industrial revolution’,
which would help strengthen industry as
the fundament of Europe’s economy.
The vision entails the gradual substitution of hydrocarbons as our main source
of energy by a more efficient and sustainable use of resources. New production techniques based on digital
technologies, advanced materials, key
enabling technologies, space, robotics,
renewable energy, recycling and reuse
of raw materials would help reach the
set targets. Many economic sectors
would be involved, notably manufacturing, services, energy, raw materials,
transport, construction, and chemicals.
In short, “Europe needs to exploit the
business opportunities resulting from the
transition to a more sustainable, resource efficient and low carbon economy”, which means relevant policies
are needed to provide consistency, coherence and certainty and create the
right conditions for innovation.
There are however some hurdles to be
taken on the way to the industrial revolution. Firstly, the regulatory conditions need to be created in order for an
innovation-friendly climate to be spread
across Europe. Standardisation is
helpful to ensure quality and improve an
easier flow along supply chains. The
protection of intellectual property rights
with a unitary patent is a goal still to
be achieved, but the target date of 2014

for the first European-wide patent is
coming closer at a rapid pace, even
though there is some progress to be
noted in the discussions, like a recent
meeting of the European Council in Luxembourg and the narrowing down of
options for the future location of a European Patent Court.
The second challenge is to raise the
demand for innovation as without a
market, no new product or service can
survive. For this purpose, the EC has
launched a Public Consultation tapping into stakeholders’ ideas for generating demand-led innovation, which is
running through to 6 September 2012.
A third serious bottleneck is the access
to finance for SME that typically drive
innovation. Financial instruments for the
support of research intensive and highrisk projects will be part of the next
Framework Programme for Research and
Innovation (Horizon 2020) and the Programme for the Competitiveness of enterprises and SMEs (COSME), both starting in 2014. But there are still discussions about a synergies between the
instruments provided by both programmes. A serious underfunding of
COSME and a far too low ceiling of
€150’000 are the main criticisms of the
otherwise much appreciated initiative.
The fourth major challenge is building
up and maintaining skills that are
necessary for an innovation and technology-driven boost to the economy.
Here one of the main tasks of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is seen in supporting specific training in entrepreneurship and
new technologies at the regional level.
This is to foster the creation of new
companies and hence new employment
and to support existing companies in
03 July 2012 • SwissCore

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INNOVATION

their search for skilled workers to help
them become and maintain their competitiveness.
And last but not least, all programmes
starting in 2014 need immediate actions and ideas. The European Commission has launched a second Public
Consultation for this purpose, asking
for input to develop new initiatives that
can deliver substantial results in the
short-term. The result of the consulta-

tion, which runs until 7 August 2012 will
be published in the review of the industrial policy communication planned for
September 2012.
After a very busy build-up to the summer, it can be expected that autumn in
Brussels will see further discussions on
these issues but hopefully also some
decisions, notably on the question of the
unitary patent.

A systemic approach to prioritising KET
The European Commission (EC) has
acknowledged the need for a coherent
European strategy on Key Enabling
Technologies (KET) and has proposed
a systemic approach in its communication ‘A European Strategy for Key Enabling Technologies – A bridge to growth
and jobs’ published on 26 June 2012.
They are praised as a ‘key source of
innovation’ and an important means to
solving societal challenges and have
therefore been put at the centre of European innovation policy. The following
six KET have been defined as being of
systemic relevance:
 micro-/nanoelectronics;
 nanotechnology;
 photonics;
 advanced materials;
 industrial biotechnology;
 advanced manufacturing technologies.
With a current global market volume of
€646 billion with a projection of over €1
trillion by 2015 and a fourfold expected
social return on investment in additional
taxes and social security contributions,
the EC sees KET as the driving force for
the economy. The European Union (EU)

currently is the global leader in KET development and holds a strong competitive advantage with one third of all patent applications, which is to be the only
region to play a leading role in all six
KET. However, this position is jeopardised by the EU’s weakness in capitalising
on its knowledge base and to translate it
into goods and services and ultimately
into growth and jobs. This lack to overcome the so called ‘Valley of Death’
has been put down to several reasons,
such as the lack of a common definition
and understanding of KET or the missing
support for high-risk demonstration and
proof-of-concept projects.
This can be addressed by creating synergies between EU policies and instruments and ensuring a better coordination of activities at the European and national level. Also, industry is expected to play a much more
significant role than before.
Therefore, the suggested strategy aims
at a more efficient and productive allocation of existing resources without an
increase in public funding for KET. Concretely, the measures suggested are
03 July 2012 • SwissCore

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INNOVATION

based on three pillars: technological
research; product demonstration; competitive manufacturing and include the
following elements:
 With €6’663 billion earmarked for
KET, research and innovation financing under ‘Industrial Leadership’ within Horizon 2020 will constitute a main
part of the KET strategy.
 KET will constitute investment priorities for the European Regional Development Fund (EDRF).
 The state aid rules for Research, Development and Innovation (R&D&I)
may be used for addressing clearly
identified market failures under the
condition of not distorting competition.
 The European Investment Bank (EIB)
will provide approximately €1 billion
for R&D&I-support and risk sharing
facilities related to KET.

 The EC intends to provide a more favourable trade environment with regards to KET.
 The EC will launch a forecasting tool
for the needs of the labour market
with regards to KET.
 The EC will set up a monitoring mechanism in 2013 to collect market data
on KET.
The communication will be discussed in
the European Parliament, the Council of
the EU, the European Economic and Social Committee as well as the Committee
of the Regions. The outcome will feed
into the adoption of the abovementioned instruments, including the
proposed Knowledge and Innovation
Community on ‘Added-value manufacturing’.

EDUCATION
Quiet Cypriot presidency in education
Cyprus will hold the presidency of the
Council of the European Union from 1
July to 31 December 2012. In the field
of education, there will be a focus on
four priorities: literacy, lifelong guidance, equity and excellence in Vocational Education and Training (VET), and the
further adoption of Erasmus for All.
The issue of literacy will first be addressed during a conference in Nicosia
from 5 to 6 September, where the results of the High Level Group on Literacy
appointed two years ago will be presented. There will be further discussions
during the Informal Education Council
from 4 to 5 October in Nicosia and conclusions will be adopted during the Education, Culture, Youth and Sport (ECYS)
Council from 22 to 23 November in
Brussels. Regarding lifelong guidance,
the objective of the Cypriot presidency is
to support member states in improving
their national lifelong guidance policies.
In order to do so, a resolution based on
former 2004 and 2008 Council resolutions will be adopted during the ECYS
Council. Moreover, VET will remain a
priority under the Cypriot presidency,
which will draft and most probably adopt
conclusions on equity and excellence in
VET. The communication of the European Commission (EC) on ‘Rethinking
skills’ expected for autumn 2012 will
serve as a basis for drafting these conclusions, which will not focus on excellence as such, but more on the VET systems and their ability to provide relevant skills for the labour market.
Higher Education (HE) will not be addressed during the Cypriot presidency,
since the EC communication on the in-

ternational dimension of HE will come
out in 2013 only. However, the permeability and pathways between HE
and VET will be on the agenda of a joint
meeting of the Directors-General for VET
and for HE on 23 October in Nicosia. On
the side of youth, a Directors-General
meeting will take place in Cyprus from
11 to 13 September. Another event
worth mentioning is the conference on
‘Opening-up education through technologies’ co-hosted by the Cypriot presidency and Norway, which will take place
in December in Oslo.
Finally and most importantly, the further
adoption of Erasmus for all will of
course stay a priority, but the Cypriot
presidency will not be able to progress
very much in the negotiations, since a
partial general approach was already
reached by the Danish presidency (see
Synopsis 2012/05), the draft report of
the European Parliament (EP) will only
be adopted on 6 November in the Culture and Education Committee (CULT)
and in 2013 in plenary session of the EP,
and all budgetary issues will only be
discussed once the Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF) has been adopted,
i.e. not before the end of 2012. Therefore, the Cypriot presidency will only
engage in informal discussions with
the EP and closely follow its proceedings, as well as start preliminary discussions on the Master loan guarantee
system and the minimum allocations per
sector. All in all, the Cypriot presidency
will be less busy than the Danish and
the future Irish presidency with the negotiations process of Erasmus for all.

Website of the Cypriot presidency

03 July 2012 • SwissCore

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EDUCATION

Europe 2020 targets far from reach?
On 30 May, the European Commission
(EC) has published a communication on
‘Action for stability, growth and jobs’
accompanied by country-specific recommendations on all member states’
reform programmes (see page 2). They
are based on the implementation progress of the 2011 recommendations and
were officially adopted during the European Council on 28 and 29 June 2012.
In the area of education and training,
the recommendations focus on three
priorities, all supporting the Europe
2020 strategy: reforms in the field of
Vocational Education and Training
(VET); countries’ performance regarding the targets on Early School Leaving (ESL) and higher education attainment; challenges related to specific
disadvantaged groups.

Reforms in the field of VET are directly linked to the Youth Opportunities
Initiative
(see
Synopsis
2012/01)
launched in December 2011 and to the
current endeavour of the EC, the European Parliament (EP) and a large number of member states to push for VET
systems able to produce relevant skills
for the labour market. Basically, member states which do not have a performing VET system are asked to develop
more and better apprenticeship
schemes. Regarding the Europe 2020
headline targets, six countries (Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Malta and
Spain) specifically need to further address ESL and seven countries (Austria,

Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary,
Italy, Latvia and Slovakia) had recommendations on higher education. In
order to meet the Europe 2020 education targets, i.e. to reduce ESL to less
than 10% and increase the share of 30
to 34 years-olds with a tertiary degree to at least 40%, some member
states seem to need to work harder.
This was again recently confirmed by
figures compiled by Eurostat as part of
the annual Labour Force Survey. Figures show that even if member states
are making progress – 2011 higher education attainment at 34.6% compared
to 33.5% in 2010 and 22.4% in 2000;
2011 ESL at 13.5% compared to
14.1% in 2010 and 17.6% in 2000 –
wide disparities still remain, with for
example Malta experiencing 33.5% of
ESL and Spain 26.5%.

As a result, there is no certainty that
these two headline targets will be
reached by 2020. Moreover, the EC
seems worried that the progress recorded is actually not the result of long-term
impact reforms, but more a side-effect
of the current high youth unemployment, which forces young people
to stay longer in education and training
by fear of entering the labour market. In
any case, these two headline targets will
stay in the loop of the EC, which will
report on their latest developments in
an ‘Education Monitor’ expected for
the autumn 2012 as well as in the
2013 Annual Growth Survey.

EC communication and recommendations
Labour Force Survey

03 July 2012 • SwissCore

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EDUCATION

> Publications
Leonardo da Vinci in a statistical nutshell
On 6 June 2012, the European Commission has

are the top three destinations for placements.

published a brochure presenting a statistical over-

Partnership projects exist only since 2008, but

view

programme's

they are increasingly popular. Some 300 transfer

achievements from 2007 to 2011. The brochure is

of innovation projects and 32 to 42 development

very similar to the Erasmus brochure published

of innovation projects were selected every year.

last month (see Synopsis 2012/05). In the five

Finally, 31 network projects were funded. All to-

years covered in the brochure, 16’700 mobility

gether, the brochure provides a good overview of

projects (equalling to 375’000 placements) were

the types of applicants and the topics and priori-

funded. Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain

ties addressed for each type of projects.

of

the

Leonardo

da

Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci Facts and Figures (pdf)

Looking into traineeships and apprenticeships
On 31 May 2012, the Directorate-General for Em-

ty of traineeship arrangements existing in Europe.

ployment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities

Earlier in May, EMPL had published another study

(EMPL) of the European Commission has published

on ‘apprenticeship supply in the member states’,

the study ‘comprehensive overview on traineeship

which provides an overview of the apprenticeship-

arrangement in member states’. The objective was

type schemes in Europe and discusses their effec-

to gather a traineeship-related evidence base

tiveness in easing the transition into the labour

covering all European countries. The study points

market. Both studies result from the increased

out the lack of a common definition of traineeships

policy focus on traineeships and apprenticeships as

across member states as well as the great diversi-

a vector to stimulate youth employment.

Catalogue EMPL

Europass gains visibility
The European Centre for the Development of Vo-

‘Skills for the future’ held in Copenhagen on 19

cational Training (Cedefop) has recently released

May 2012, as well as a page specifically dedicated

the first issue of the electronic Europass newslet-

to the Europass curriculum vitae. As highlighted by

ter, which should in the future be published three

a recent Cedefop briefing note, Europass is used

times a year, i.e. in May, September and Decem-

by a growing number of European citizens. By the

ber. This first edition contains the results of a

end of 2012, Europass users will be able to create

study on the impact of Europass Mobility on em-

an electronic European skills passport to make

ployability, a short summary of the conference

their

skills

and

qualifications

visible.

Europass newsletter (pdf)
Cedefop briefing note (pdf)

03 July 2012 • SwissCore

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INTRA MUROS…
Traineeships at SwissCore
In June 2012, SwissCore had the pleasure to receive two trainees from our
partners in Switzerland. We are delighted they both were willing to report
on their experiences: “Brussels as a
concept of policy-making with implications on the Swiss science and research
landscape may appear far away and
somewhat a black box. In turn, and
seen from Brussels, the system of Academies was equally disclosed to the political observer. By the author of these
lines spending a stage from 4 to 8 June,
organised by SwissCore, in Europe’s
political capital, mutual insights could be
won and ideas to further the interests of
the Swiss science community in Europe
could be developed.
The Swiss Academies are the umbrella
organisation of four academies covering
the natural, social and human, medical
and the engineering sciences, plus the
two centres of competence Science et
Cité and TA-SWISS. Through their organisational set-up – with scientific societies as members and/or ad personam
membership – they have access to scientific expertise, across disciplines and
organisations. Important elements in
their brief are to serve as sciencesociety/policy interface by promoting
dialogue between them and by providing
scientific advice for policy-making. These goals are also part of the Swiss Academies’ international approach, whose
activities focus on Europe, where an
additional area of activity is to influence
science policy developments. For this
purpose, they are a member of the European Academies Science Advisory
Council (EASAC) and the All European
Academies (ALLEA) respectively.

stakeholders with an interest and mission in the European science landscape,
such as the European University Association or Science Europe. The insights
from the many interesting and enriching
formal and informal discussions were
many and seem evident, but maybe not
so obvious to be implemented. Among
the key conclusions: the academies
need to clearly define their European
profile and take a niche position that is
not taken already by other stakeholders
in the European Research Area; it would
improve the effectiveness of their interaction with the Commission if there was
only one organisation that would represent for the academies in Europe;
through their Memorandum of Understanding with the Joint Research Centres
(JRC), EASAC has gained privileged access to the Commission and is taken
serious regarding the provision of science for policy.
As a first step of following up the week
in Brussels, the Swiss Academies envisage to rally fellow academies to provide
their views on the Commission’s Communication regarding the ERA Framework, expected to be published on 17
July.”
by Roger Pfister, Head of the International Cooperation Desk at Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences

SwissCore organised a most helpful visitor’s programme, with relevant interlocutors at the European Commission and
03 July 2012 • SwissCore

14

“SwissCore organised for me a tailormade traineeship of more than 15 meetings from 18 to 28 June. I had the occasion to meet some of my pairs in Brussels as well as several Heads of Unit
Communication from different Directorates-General. SwissCore provided me
with good contacts and gave me the
opportunity to see how the different
communication units are organised and
what they produce. The main focus of
the traineeship was firstly on science
communication strategies and activities,
but also to have an up-date on the ongoing preparation for the next European
Framework Programme for Research and
Innovation (Horizon2020). It was the
occasion to convey the communication
activities in Switzerland from the ones

made at the European Commission. I
also benefited from the expertise within
SwissCore making some fruitful exchanges with the team regarding information, best practises and writing rules.
This traineeship gave also the possibility
for Euresearch to gain visibility among
the different meetings made, for instance some synergies were created
with the communication unit of Directorate-General Research and Innovation
to share the success stories. A traineeship that I definitively recommend to
the Swiss actors in the European research, innovation and education community.”
by Véronique Sordet, Communication
Manager at Euresearch Head Office